SC - re: sca-cooks V1 #1552

[grasse at mscd.edu]

Thank you for that (below referenced) post, Poppa Gunthar Sir!

It is one of the most useful pieces of information about judging (and what 
_you_ as a  judge look for) I have seen to date . While I realize this 
applies only to you, it gives me something concrete to check my work 
against when preparing for a competition.  And while I have no doubt that 
you will NOT be judging anything in Caerthe in the near future it still 
gives me some very valid reference points to check my documentation against 
the next time I enter a competition.

Thank you!

Gwen Cat ^^ ~
Caerthe

_________________________________________________________
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 12:40:42 -0500
From: "Michael F. Gunter" <michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Cooking by "hand"

Funny you should mention this. We had our Barony of the Steppes
Artisan competition last weekend and several entrants asked me
to check out their food displays. I realized after a while that the
food on the table was the last thing I looked at. First thing I would
do is examine their documentation. I would look to see if they had
a period recipe recorded, then their translation of the recipe and
then the modern redaction. I would check to see if the redaction
included all of the steps and ingredients listed in the original and
in places where they didn't follow the original if they listed why.
I would critique the documentation and explain why the original
did some steps and not others or recommend modern substitutes
for period ingredients. Only after discussing the documentation
would I finally look at and taste the food on display. What I really
judge is if the entrant understands the food because just about
anybody can follow a recipe from a book.

It was afterwards that I realized I was using similar criteria as
a wine judge uses in some ways. Basically I would check the
color, the legs, swirl for dregs, smell and only after all of the
other examinations would I actually taste. The food itself seemed
secondary to the sholoarship involved. Does this mean I'm
becoming an authenticity snob? If it does then I'm happy to be
here.

The good thing is that all of the people I talked about this with
seemed happy for the information I could share.

Yers,

Gunthar

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